I recently discovered the Prelinger Archives of American Ephemera-
an amazing collection of advertising, educational, industrial, and
amateur films.
For anyone into these types of artifacts, this is a veritable buffet.
Design fans, I heartily recommend checking out American Look:
a lovely piece of Chevrolet-sponsored cultural self-definition from 1958:
An interesting piece about Levi’s historian and archivist also mentions that
The Society of American Archivists maintains a directory of 300 to 500 companies with archives. Elizabeth Adkins, director of Ford Motor Co.’s archives and president-elect of the Society of American Archivists, said that some will establish an in-house collection for legal reasons, as well as for public relations and marketing purposes. Others will do it to track the progress of their business over time.
“It helps them to know what’s been tried before, what the brand’s historic strengths are and how to build on it,” Adkins said.
